6 Guardians who have improved their stock in the second half 

Don’t look now, but the Cleveland Guardians are on the cusp of a postseason spot. While that may have seemed far-fetched earlier in the season, they’ve worked their way into both the Wild Card and American League Central pictures thanks to a strong run of play in the second half. 

Here are six Guardians who have helped improve their stock during the winning streak.  

Note: all stats are prior to Friday's game.

6 Guardians who have improved their stock in the second half 

Gabriel Arias
.268/.295/.512, 2 HR, 9 RBI in 11 games 

While Arias’ batting average and on-base percentage are a bit lacking, he’s on this list thanks to an eye-popping .512 slugging percentage. Most of that production came during the Guardians’ three-game series against the Mets, as he drove in six runs in the series thanks to a single, triple and moon-scraping three-run home run. 

Not only has Arias fully taken over shortstop for the Guardians, he’s finally playing like an everyday player. His long swing can still be a bit frustrating to watch, but the Guardians’ series against the Mets showed exactly how impactful he can be.

Jakob Junis
1-0, 1.13 ERA in eight innings

At one point, it seemed like Junis was set to be trade bait at this year’s deadline, but he ended up staying in Cleveland past the deadline. The Guardians are better for it. 

Junis opened the second half by tossing three scoreless one inning outs before baffling the Rockies for two innings in the Guardians’ bullpen day win the day prior to the deadline.

While he allowed a run in his next outing (2 1/3 innings against the Mets), he was lights out in a high-leverage outing against the Mets, recording two outs on four pitches. 

Everyone in the Guardians’ bullpen has moved up a rung since Emmanuel Clase’s suspension, and Junis has handled his promotion swimmingly. Expect to see him used in a variety of roles for the rest of the second half. 

Kyle Manzardo
.333/.400/.563, 3 HR, 12 RBI in 15 games 

The Guardians have finally let Manzardo off the leash in the second half, and he’s rewarded them with some much-needed production at the plate that’s included his first multi-homer game of the year and his second walk-off hit. 

Manzardo doesn’t have incredible peripheral statistics, but he’s becoming the perfect cleanup hitter behind José Ramírez, and is a big reason why Ramírez has scored 19 runs in the second half. 

While Manzardo isn’t as good of a defensive first baseman as Carlos Santana, he’s proving himself at the plate, which should be enough for him to earn everyday at-bats. 

Daniel Schneemann
.311/.439/.467, 1 HR, 4 RBI in 15 games 

We’re currently in the midst of one of Schneemann’s signature hot streaks, which has been highlighted by back-to-back three hit games against the Twins. He’s also showcased his signature versatility across this span by making eight appearances at second base, seven in the outfield and two at third base. 

Schneemann’s now hit double-digit home runs for just the third time in his professional career and is sporting a season on-base percentage of .322. The Guardians’ offense is at its best when Schneemann’s getting on-base, and we’ve seen him in his best form so far in the second half. 

Cade Smith
2-1, 1.93 ERA, 1 save in 9 1/3 innings 

Cleveland, meet your new closer. Smith has been nearly unhittable since the second half, and has worked in a variety of roles since Emmanuel Clase’s suspension. 

Along with recording a save against the Mets his last time out, Smith also worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings against the Mets the day before along with two scoreless innings against the Twins ahead of Manzardo’s walk-off. 

His fastball has been electric, and it seems like he’s shaken off his struggles from earlier this year. Stephen Vogt may still deploy him earlier in games to put out a fire, but it seems like the ninth inning will be his from here on out. 

Gavin Williams
2-0, 1.30 ERA in 27 2/3 innings 

The big rig has been tearing up the road so far in the second half. While the highlight of that tiem is obviously his near no-hitter against the Mets, he was equally as dominant in his first three times taking the ball in the second half as well. 

He opened the second half with seven dominant innings against the Athletics before going six innings against the Royals and Twins. 

In total, he’s allowed just 14 hits in the second half to go along with 28 strikeouts. That’s ace material. 

The biggest thing to watch will be if he can cut down on the walks, which always seem to be in danger of derailing his outings. But, as he showed on Wednesday, when he’s on, there are few pitchers better in baseball.